


a sacrifice to save you

by iseemikimouse



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Bullying, Character Death, Flashbacks, Home Invasion, Immortals, M/M, No Happy Ending Fest, Unhappy Ending, immortal!jongin, immortal!kyungsoo, mentions of bullying, no happy ending, pov swap, the story is told from her pov, yoohyeon is kaisoo's daughter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:55:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22721311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iseemikimouse/pseuds/iseemikimouse
Summary: Yoohyeon knows, she knows that she's not going to make it out of here alive, but life really does flash before one's eyes before they die.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 13
Kudos: 28
Collections: No Happy Ending Fest - 2019





	a sacrifice to save you

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt #:** 41  
>  **Prompt:** A and B are a couple of immortals who a long time ago adopted a human baby C. They watched him grow and eventually will have to watch him die.  
>  **Pairing/Main Character(s):** Kai/D.O.  
>  **Word Count:** 4,463  
>  **Warning(s)/Additional Tag(s):** blood, major character death, pov swap,  
>  **Author's note:** hi hello and welcome to this mess that is this story. when i sat down to really think about it, i couldn't think of any other way to have it. i wanted to tell the story with the pov being the child and not kaisoo. even trying to figure out who the child is was hard. i'm sorry to the prompter who wanted an exo member, but my mind began to scream that i'm going to come back to this au bc there's just so much to explore in it and then exo would have been incomplete. but aside from this chaos, i hope that you'll enjoy. (the title comes from the song called a sacrifice to save you by efisio cross. feel free to listen to it when reading.)

Yoohyeon closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She counts to five before opening them once more. Her gaze goes to the two sets of eyes, watching her movements as they have been for the past eighteen years. She wants to reach out to them and kiss their cheeks once more, but she knows that she won’t be able to. 

That thought forces her thoughts to stop for a moment. Never again will she be able to kiss her parents’ cheeks and listen to them scold her taking too long in the shower. She’ll never be able to hold their hands while she waits to hear from her universities. She’ll never… 

She releases a shaky breath and continues to stand straight, the blade against her throat slowly piercing her skin. Yoohyeon closes her eyes again. 

Instead of eighteen, she’s five again. It’s late at night, and her stomach is in so much pain. Her insides feel like they’re melting and dear gods, she just wants the pain to stop. 

“Hyeonnie,” comes a gentle voice in her ear. “Everything will be alright.” 

Yoohyeon shakes her head and buries her face into her pillow, soft cries falling from her lips. Fingers card through her hair, the delicate digits comforting her. She tries to focus on them, but the pain isn’t like before. It’s growing, and she doesn’t understand why. She whines quietly as she squeezes her eyes shut. 

“It’s alright, Hyeonnie,” the voice says again. “You’re going to be alright. Papa promises.” 

Very slowly, Yoohyeon turns her head to look at her father. He smiles at her, his ruby eyes crinkling in the corner. His thick lips are stretched into a heart, the single indigo line on his face wrinkling just a little. 

“Hello, angel,” he says. “Daddie’s almost back with your medicine.” He glances down at his watch. “He should be here at any minute.” 

Yoohyeon sniffles and turns over, so she’s lying on her back instead of her stomach. She places her hands against it and frowns. “Papa,” she says quietly through soft whimpers. “It hurts.” 

Papa’s eyes turn sad. “I know, my sweet.” 

“Are you going to get rid of the hurt?” she asks, her voice full of hope. 

“I’m going to try my hardest. Your daddie and I are going to try really hard, okay?” 

Yoohyeon hums and tries to smile as Papa places a hand against her forehead. It’s clammy and sweaty and just gross. How is Papa not cringing at the feeling of it? She doesn’t get it as she would never be able to touch someone’s forehead like he is. But maybe that means Papa is special. Perhaps he’ll always be the one to touch her brow when it’s all gross and disgusting. 

She closes her eyes, her eyelids feeling a little heavy. She settles into the bed, feeling something soft against her forehead before a gentle hum fills her room.

She smiles.

Yoohyeon loves it when Papa hums for her. She always feels like she’s floating and traveling far away from the difficult things she has to go through. She’s too young to understand why the men in the crisp black suits come in once a month and ask her questions about her parents. She doesn’t deal with the stress of trying to be a good girl for them because they’re just downright awful to her, but she knows that if she wants to stay with Papa and Daddie, she needs to be a good girl.

But Papa’s hum causes her to forget that. It reminds her of the lullabies he used to sing when she was far younger. Papa would sing, and Daddie would dance.

The smile on her face grows.

Oh, how beautiful Daddie danced. He danced like he was walking on air, his movements like water… or at least that’s what uncle Channie and Papa would tell her. Her uncle Channie always placed her on his lap, his pale fingers digging into her scalp. He would list different types of dances Yoohyeon’s daddie would do, smiling while he spoke. Even Papa would sit on the couch where Yoohyeon and uncle Channie was, a wistful smile on his face.

But that was a little over a year ago, and she hasn’t seen her uncle Channie in a long time.

Five year old Yoohyeon opens her eyes and moves her head to look at Papa, who has his eyes closed and is humming under his breath. He looks at peace, an expression that has become one of Yoohyeon’s favorite to see on him. She feels almost guilty that she’s about to take that expression away from him.

“Papa,” she calls out quietly, the sudden jolt of words shocking her body just a little. Pain shoots up her stomach, causing her to wince, but she ignores it and waits for a response. Papa’s eyes open, the subtle red feeling comforting to her. “Do you think Daddie would teach me how to dance?”

Papa smiles at her, reaching out and petting her head gently, a thoughtful look on his face. “Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” she says. “But not right now as my tummy hurts. But I want to learn because Daddie always looks so pretty when he dances.” Yoohyeon pauses. “I want to be pretty too.”

Yoohyeon’s papa kisses her forehead once more, smiling at her. “You’re already pretty, Hyeonnie,” he says. “And if you dance like your daddie, you’re going to be even prettier.”

The five year old giggles at Papa, the pain in her stomach gone for a little more.

Yoohyeon closes her eyes once more, but this time she’s eighteen again, and the same assailant is standing her behind her. Her body is trembling, and there’s that pain in her stomach that she now knows is a sign of a major nervous breakdown. She can’t have one now, though. She doesn’t want to die having her dumb breakdowns.

Her eyes dart around the room, looking for something that might be able to help her. Still, the man behind her is taller and more powerful than her. She can’t do anything by herself. Her parents are standing a few feet away, but they’re too far.

She glances at Papa and sees the fierce look in his vermillion eyes. They almost look like they’re glowing with how angry he is, the single indigo line on his face is nearly bathed in vermillion. Never in the time she’s lived with her parents, has she seen an immortal’s mark glow a different color. But as much as she wants to be fascinated, the cold and unyielding knife grounds her, bringing her to where she needs to be.

“Now that I have your attention,” says the man behind her, “will you listen to my request for information?”

Yoohyeon wants to laugh. “And what request would a lunatic have?” she asks.

The blade digs in deeper. “Shut up. I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Then, be more specific on who you’re addressing.”

“You bitch. I shoul-“

“You kill her,” Papa’s voice rings out, his voice colder and more profound than she’s ever heard. “Then, any information that we _might_ think about giving you will no longer be yours.”

The man grumbles behind Yoohyeon, who deems her father’s words a small victory. As much as she wants to mentally celebrate it, though, the look on Papa’s face is enough for her to stay still and shut her mouth for the time being.

Daddie grunts next to where Papa stands, his eyes inkier than before. His eyes look like two pools of black, waiting to drown you in them until there’s nothing left. His brow is furrowed, and his lips are curled into a snarl.

“What kind of information do you want?” Daddie says.

“On the Clans,” the man says with snark in his tone. “What other kind of information do you think I want?”

Yoohyeon feels her blood run cold. She should have guessed that this is what this entire home invasion is about. Of course, they’re looking for the Immortal Clans, they’re humans, and the dumb humans are _scared_ of the Immortals when they shouldn’t be.

“And what makes you think that we’re just going to give information to you about the Clans?” Daddie asks, his voice dropping a few octaves.

The grip around Yoohyeon’s throat gets tighter causing her to choke just a little. She’s trying to put up a brave front, but the need to breathe and to push the knife away from her neck is becoming harder to control.

“I have her,” says the man, “and she will die if you don’t give me what I want.”

Daddie actually snarls, his hands forming fists. There’s that look in his eyes, the one that wants to kill everything in his path to get what he wants, and right now, Yoohyeon’s daddie wants her.

She closes her eyes just for a moment.

When she opens them, she’s standing in front of a mirror, her eleven year old self staring right at her. She has her hands on her hip, her midriff showing a toned pale stomach. She pokes it, frowning.

She’s too fat to be a dancer.

At least that’s what the kids in her dance class tell her. They’ll call her different slurs, but the fact that she’s too fat to be a dancer is what’s throwing her into a loop.

“They’re jealous,” says a voice. “Jealous of how beautiful you can dance.”

Yoohyeon drops her shirt and whirls around to look at Daddie with wide eyes. She slams a hand to her chest, trying to calm down her beating heart.

“Daddie!” she shouts. “What are you doing?”

He smiles at her, the two crimson lines on his face crinkling at the action. “Watching you poke at your stomach. Remember, my precious, Hyeonnie, it’s because they’re jealous of you.”

Yoohyeon sighs and turns back around to look in the mirror. “But aren’t they right? I look like a whale compared to them.”

And truth be told, she did. She’s a little taller than those in her class, her height making her look like some kind of weed in the middle of beautiful flowers. Her limbs are long and gangly, making her seem like she’s about to punch another dancer in the face.

“I don’t think so,” Daddie says. “I think you look beautiful when you dance across the stage.”

Yoohyeon meets her father’s eyes in the mirror, his inky eyes staring right at her. They’re bright and filled with anger but not at her, at the children who decided that his little girl wasn’t enough for them. His brows are furrowed, and his expression looks like he’s ready to kill anyone that comes her way.

“You think?” she asks quietly.

“I know so,” he says. “After all, you learned from me, and I’m one of the best.”

“I suppose I did,” she says with a smile. For now, she’s decided to listen to her father.

“You know,” he says after a couple of moments, “back when I was your age, people would call me all sorts of names because of my dancing. They told me horrible things, and I honestly never understood why. I was the one always practicing while they were practicing how to hunt or how to get a girl but never to dance.” There’s a soft smile on his face. “And my parents never minded. They always told me to do the thing that made me happy.”

Yoohyeon turns around and moves to her bed. She sits on it, tucking her legs under her and listening to her father talk. When she’s honest with herself, she loves listening about the times when her parents were younger. They came from different eras of time, and it was always fascinating to hear them talk and to compare them from children of today.

“This is before you met Papa, right?” she asks as Daddie moves to sit on the bed with her.

“That’s correct. I met your papa right after the Immortal Clans had been formed. He was the first person I danced for after my village was destroyed.”

Yoohyeon flinches at the haunted look in his inky eyes. They held too many emotions that Yoohyeon didn’t quite understand yet, but for him, she is willing to learn.

“Daddie,” she says quietly. “One day, will you take me to where your hometown was?”

Daddie whips his head and stares at Yoohyeon, those emotions that she didn’t understand gone in the blink of an eye. Instead, they were replaced with surprise before happiness filled them. He smiles brightly at her, thick lips pulled over white teeth.

“I would love to,” he says, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a hug.

She closes her eyes and takes in his warmth, her entire being filled with nothing but love and contentment from him. Her eyes remain closed when she pulls away, her body feeling light and everything in between. She only opens her eyes when she feels the stinging of her left cheek like someone had slapped her.

Yoohyeon’s eyes fly open.

She stands outside her room, the sign on her door sitting crooked against the wood. The sign looks no more than a couple of days old, her memory of sitting hunched at her desk, the pink paint staining her fingers is fresh in her mind. She doesn’t need a mirror to know this day.

She reaches to her cheek and gently presses on it, a low hiss coming out of her mouth. Disgust and anger fill her body at the memory of getting it, but pride blooms in her chest at the thought of standing up for her family. It was the right thing to do.

She hates that no one sees her parents for what they are, two loving people who have to try and protect their world. But humans are fickle creatures. They’re scared of the things they don’t understand and why Immortals living on the planet is one they can’t seem to comprehend.

This means, instead of figuring out why the Immortal exists, humans have begun to attack the different Immortal Clans. They claim the reason is for the declining condition of the earth. And because they can’t kill the Immortals, they’ve taken to the next best thing. The Hunt of the Families of the Immortals is what the news calls it. A pain in her ass is what Yoohyeon calls it.

So what if she’s the daughter of the Immortal of Wrath and the Immortal of Kindness? They haven’t done anything to warrant the bricks through their windows and the almost suffocation of Yoohyeon. They’re nothing but innocent bystanders in this fight.

But again, humans are fickle, and they’re dumb. They can’t see the good that stems from the Immortals and only the bad.

She tried to explain it to the group of girls waiting for her after school. She really did, but they were too caught up in the mindset that dragged the Immortals down. The leader was the first one to throw a punch, but Yoohyeon was the one to make sure that she was the one to end it.

She stares at her door, dread filling every fiber of her being. Her parents weren’t anywhere else in the house, which means they’re waiting for her to open the door. While she’s proud at the fact that she’s stood up to people bullying her, she’s not proud of the blood on her hands that she knows is going to raise a lot of questions.

She sighs and opens her door, not paying any attention to the eyes following her every movement. Instead, she focuses on putting her bag down by her vanity and grabbing her makeup bag sitting on top of it. Pulling out the chair, she sits down, grabbing a cotton square, and begins to wipe off the cream patted into her cheeks. She glances into the vanity’s mirror to find both Papa and Daddie watching her, both of their eyes looking mesmerizing in the mirror. Papa’s indigo line is scrunched up with worry while Daddie’s twin crimson lines are untouched.

“I did more damage to them than they did to me,” she says once she’s down, removing her makeup. She doesn’t turn around and instead keeps their gaze through the mirror.

Papa sighs. “I have no doubt,” he says.

“They had it coming.”

“They always have it coming.”

She looks down at her hands where the red has turned into vermillion, the color of Papa’s eyes. “I don’t like this,” she says. “The way that they talk about you. They talk like you’re monsters when that is not the case. You’re trying to stop the world from ending, not trying to end it.”

“But they don’t know that,” Papa says quietly.

“And will they ever? Why hide this big secret from the world?”

“Because they wouldn’t understand.”

Yoohyeon sighs. “Maybe you should make them understand.”

“That’s not up to us to decide.”

“I know.”

It’s silent in the room for a moment, Yoohyeon trying to figure out what to say next. It’s the soft ‘Jongin’ that comes from Papa that has her head snapping up and catching Daddie’s eyes in the mirror. She sees that look again, the one she saw when she was eleven, and they were talking about the bullies in her dance class. She knows what it means.

“We need to move,” he says, his dark eyes challenging her to say something.

And Yoohyeon being Yoohyeon is going to say something. She crosses her arms against her chest and stares at Daddie.

“And do you think running away from this problem is going to solve something?”

“Yes,” he says. “It’s going to protect you, and that’s all I care about.”

Yoohyeon scoffs. “That makes it seem like you have something to hide, which you don’t. Humans are just dumb!”

“Yoohyeon…” Papa trails off.

“If we move, it’s like letting them win, and I don’t want that.” She closes her hands into a fist, her glare directed to somewhere above her parents’ head. “I don’t want humans to win because they’re scared! We’re not doing anything wrong.”

“We’re moving,” he says again.

“We should stay,” she says. “We should stay and challenge them! Make the-”

As she talks, Daddie stands up and marches towards her. He grabs her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. He shakes her a little bit, the look in his eyes wild.

“No!” he shouts. “I can’t do this anymore! I have to protect you from them! We’re not going to sit here in this house like sitting ducks. We know this city, yes, but that’s it. We don’t know the people in this town, and it’s only going to get worse from here! You’re in danger Kim Yoohyeon, and like you point out all the time, humans are dumb, and they’re scared, but it’s because of this that I’m scared! I’m not going to lose you because the humans around us are dumb and scared. I’m not going to put myself or Kyungsoo through that pain of losing you over something that could have been prevented! Do you not understand that all I want to do is to protect you!?”

Yoohyeon stares at Daddie with wide eyes. Papa had gotten up from the bed in the middle of Daddie’s speech, trying to peel off his fingers against her shoulders. There are gathered tears in both of her parents’ eyes, and for the first time, the realization that she could really be killed if she stayed in this house any longer sits on her shoulders.

“I’m not going to lose you like I did the rest of my family,” Daddie mumbles under his breath. “I don’t want to lose anyone this way again.”

Yoohyeon wants to cry. She’s never seen Daddie so distressed before, and for a moment, she’s scared. She’s afraid of everything that he’s saying, but most of all, she’s scared to leave her parents in a way that she has no control over. She can’t do that to them.

“Jongin,” Papa says quietly. “Please let her go. You’re going to bruise her more than she already is.”

Papa’s words are like a switch. Something akin to fear crosses over his face as he jolts, ripping his hands away from her shoulders like he’s been burned.

“All I want, Kim Yoohyeon is for you to grow old,” Daddie says quietly, his voice cracking with every other word. “I want to see you have children if that’s what you want. I want to see you go through heartbreak and get over the asshole that breaks your heart. I want to see you smile when you graduate high school and university. I want to walk you down the aisle when you get married to the love of your life.” He looks at her, his expression broken in a way that she will never be able to get out of her head. “I just want you to live.”

Yoohyeon takes a deep breath. “Okay,” she says. “Let’s move.”

She closes her eyes when she feels arms wrap around her, the feeling of her parents filling every fiber of her being.

Yoohyeon opens her eyes, and instead of being in her parents’ arms like she just saw, they’re across the room. Daddie’s face is contorted into a snarl, his twin crimson lines scrunched up. For a brief moment, she’s confused, but everything crashes to her, leaving her with barely any room to breathe. 

She sucks in a breath and releases a long shudder of breath.

“Don’t give them anything,” she says, staring at her parents. “Don’t tell them a damn thing.” 

Papa’s eyes flash over to hers, the pain and the anger slowly dissipating, but there’s something else, something she understands entirely. 

Fear. 

She takes in another deep breath. 

“Don’t tell them anythi-”

“Shut up, you bitch.” The man digs in the knife more into her skin, a small trickle of blood creating the tiniest river. “You’re not the one calling the shots here. It’s yo-” 

“Don’t tell them,” Yoohyeon says again, cutting the man off. 

(Kyungsoo’s hand is hidden behind Jongin’s back. He’s gripping onto the hem of his shirt with so many different emotions passing through his mind. He’s scared because he knows how this is going to go. He knows that this is going to end in a blood bath, and that’s something he doesn’t want. 

He’s an Immortal of Virtue. He doesn’t want there to be blood. 

_Jongin_ , he thinks, _please think of something to get my little girl out of there._

It’s faint, but Kyungsoo promises he hears _I’m trying._ )

There’s a war in Daddie’s eyes. One that wants to spill everything about the Clans and the other one to let her die. She sees the pain going through him, and she’ll always wish that they would do the right thing. Her life, to her, is nothing more than a speck in their long lives. It’s a shame that she won’t be able to do the things that she’s dreamt of, but if that meant that her parents can have another family again, then it’s worth it. 

(Kyungsoo comes up with an idea. It’s a risky one but one nonetheless. _Jongin, please trust me on this. Yoohyeon too. Please believe in me._ )

“Fine,” Papa says after a long moment. “We’ll tell you what you want to know.” 

(He feels Jongin stiffen under his touch, but his fingers are moving faster than they have been. He writes his plan on Jongin’s back, which causes the other to relax slowly.)

Everything in Yoohyeon’s blood freezes. 

They’re going to do what?

No.

Nonononononono. 

This isn’t supposed to happen. 

That’s not the choice they should make. 

What are they doing? 

“Oh?” the assailant says. “You’re going to cooperate with me?” 

Papa keeps his head held high as he avoids Yoohyeon’s eyes. “Yes,” he says. “Now, what do you want to know?”

(Kyungsoo keeps his eyes away from Yoohyeon’s, fully aware that if he looked at her, he would be giving away the lie. He needs to keep his gaze away from her. They’ll deal with the lies after everything is over. After Yoohyeon is back safely in their arms.)

“Papa, no,” she says. “Please, no.” 

“I have to do this. I have to protect my family.” 

Yoohyeon feels like she did last year when Daddie yelled at her about keeping her safe. She didn’t fully understand then, and she’s not going to understand now. Shame fills Yoohyeon’s body. She’s revolted at the outcome of events. So many other lives are going to be lost. So many of them and… 

“You’ll find the heads of the Sin and the Virtue clans,” Daddie begins, “at the top of Hallasan. They reside there with their families.” 

( _Yoohyeon, please read the lie,_ Kyungsoo pleads quietly. _Please read the lie. Yoohyeon, please.)_

They betrayed the Clans. They betrayed their family. 

(Kyungsoo wants to believe that they’ll let her go. They told them a lie, but it’s a lie that they didn’t know.

The lie that the Clans of Sin and Virtue are on Hallasan. They _were_ on Hallasan, but they moved. They moved deep into the Chinese mountains of Zhangjiajie. They were going to tell Yoohyeon before everything happened because they were going to move.) 

The shame the guilt of what’s about to happen begins to weigh her down. How is she going to live with this? How are they going to live with this? She feels numb as disbelief writes itself all over her features. She doesn’t dare look to her parents, too ashamed at the fact they had given up the information so quickly. 

(“Look at us, Yoohyeon,” Kyungsoo hears Jongin mumble his breath. “Look at us.”)

She lowers her head, tears bubbling in the corner of her eyes. 

A hand roughly pulls her head up, forcing her to stare at her parents. 

(Panic webs through Kyungsoo’s body. 

She doesn’t see the lie. 

She doesn’t see _the lie._

She doesn’t _see_ the lie.

The glint of the knife is powerful against Yoohyeon’s pale skin. There’s already small rivers of blood flowing from her neck. Kyungsoo doesn’t want to close his eyes. He won’t close his eyes.)

She opens her mouth, and there’s a scream. 

(But just because he won’t close his eyes, that doesn’t mean that he’s not going to scream when he sees the knife slide across Yoohyeon’s throat, spilling more blood than Kyungsoo has ever seen. He screams so loud when her body thunks to the ground.)

And then, there’s nothing. 

Nothing at all. 

(He continues to scream when he looks at Yoohyeon’s soulless eyes. 

She didn’t believe the lie.)

**Author's Note:**

> i'm just going to leave this here: 
> 
> \- the markings on kaisoo's faces indicate that they are immortals. kyungsoo has a single indigo line and jongin has twin crimson lines. in this world, there are six immortal clans(1. virtues, 2. sins, 3. seasons, 4. elements, 5. oceans, 6. card suits). the number of lines on an immortal's face will tell you about the immortal. the color will tell what kind of immortal they are. for example, jongin has two crimson lines. two lines represent the immortals of sin and crimson represents the sin of wrath. kyungsoo is the immortal of the virtue kindness. -


End file.
